How to restore PPU Support with the latest PhysX Drivers If you have an Ageia PhysX card, and can

If you're reading this, then you have an [color="#000080"]Ageia[/color] [b]Phys[color="#FF0000"]X[/color][/b] card and your frustrated with [color="#008000"]Nvidia[/color] for abandoning THE Relic of Dedicated Physics Processors with their latest [b]Phys[color="#008000"]X[/color][/b] drivers.

However, there is something you can do to fix that and restore support to that [color="#000080"]PPU[/color], and all it requires is a little copy/paste and some registry editing. I'll be going through, step by step, what specifically you need to do to restore [color="#000080"]PPU[/color] support with the latest [b]Phys[color="#008000"]X[/color][/b] drivers for both 32 and 64 bit systems.

You will need 3 things to start with:

1) [i]An old [color="#000080"]Ageia[/color] [b]Phys[color="#FF0000"]X[/color][/b] System Software (doesn't matter which one, as long as it's [color="#000080"]Ageia[/color]. You can Google it or look for it on PhysXFiles)[/i]

2) [i][color="#008000"]Nvidia[/color] [b]Phys[color="#00FF00"]X[/color][/b] System Software [i]8.09.04[/i] (which can be picked up from the Nvidia website)[/i]

* Uninstall [color="#008000"]Nvidia[/color] [b]Phys[color="#00FF00"]X[/color][/b] (since we're rolling back drivers)
* Install the [color="#000080"]Ageia[/color] [b]Phys[color="#FF0000"]X[/color][/b] Driver
* Now go to [i]C:\Program Files\AGEIA Technologies[/i] (or [i]C:\Program Files (x86)\AGEIA Technologies[/i] if you're using a 64 bit system.)
* Copy the bin folder
* Create a new folder elsewhere (I put it on a separate hard drive) on your system
* Rename the new folder [i]AGEIA Technologies[/i]
* Paste the bin folder under the new [i]AGEIA Technologies[/i] you just created

Note: the [i]bin[/i] folder contains demos and an application extension which allows you to play older [color="#000080"]Ageia[/color] [b]Phys[color="#FF0000"]X[/color][/b] games like [i]Switchball[/i] and [i]Stoked Rider[/i].

* Now install the [color="#008000"]Nvidia[/color] [b]Phys[color="#00FF00"]X[/color][/b] [i]8.09.04[/i] drivers
* After installing, return to [i]C:\Program Files\AGEIA Technologies[/i].
* Copy everything under [i]AGEIA Technologies[/i].
* Paste the copied files under your created folder, [i]AGEIA Technologies[/i].
* Go to [i]C:\Windows\System32[/i] (and/or [i]C:\Windows\SysWOW64[/i] if you're using 64 bit).
* Sort everything by name.
* Scroll down to P and find anything starting with the word [i]PhysX[/i].
* Copy those files with the word "[i]PhysX[/i]" in it's name.
* Return to the folder you created, [i]AGEIA Technologies[/i].
* Create a new folder under the copied [i]AGEIA Technologies[/i].
* Rename the folder Windows.
* Enter the new Windows folder and create a new folder.
* Rename the new folder [i]System32[/i].
* If you're using 64bit, create another folder here and rename it [i]SysWOW64[/i]
* Paste the files you copied into the [i]System32[/i] folder you created.

Note: When using 64bit be sure to differentiate the files you copied between [i]System32[/i] and [i]SysWOW64[/i], so anything from [i]C:\Windows\System32[/i] will go into the [i]AGEIA Technologies\Windows\System32[/i] folder you created, and anything from [i]C:\Windows\SysWOW64[/i] will go into the [i]AGEIA Technologies\Windows\SysWOW64[/i] folder you created.

* Now return to [i]C:\Windows\System32.[/i]
* Enter the [i]drivers[/i] folder.
* Sort files by name and scroll down under the names beginning with P.
* Copy a PhysX.sys related file. (physX64.sys on 64bit)
* Return to [i]AGEIA Technologies\Windows\System32[/i] and create a new folder.
* Rename the new folder [i]drivers[/i].
* Paste the file in [i]drivers[/i].
* Now return to [i]C:\Windows\System32[/i] (or [i]C:\Windows\SysWOW64[/i] for 64 bit)
* Find the AGEIA folder and copy it.
* Return to [i]AGEIA Technologies\Windows[/i] and paste it in the folder you pulled it from.
* Now install the newest [color=green]Nvidia[/color] [b]Phys[color=green]X[/color][/b] Drivers; 9.10.0513 or higher.
* After the installation has finished, find [i]C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Engine[/i]. ([i]C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Engine[/i] for 64bit.)
* Copy all contents of the [i]Engine[/i] folder
* Create a new folder and name it [i]Backup[/i], now paste all contents inside [i]Backup[/i].

The backup folder will be used to restore selective PhysX engines, depending on the games you play.

* Now copy all contents of the [i]AGEIA Technologies[/i] folder you created, spare for the [i]Windows[/i] folder.
* Return to [i]C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Engine[/i]. ([i]C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Engine[/i] for 64bit.)
* Paste the copied contents of AGEIA Technologies to the[i]Engine[/i] folder, overwrite when prompted.
* Now return to the [i]AGEIA Technologies\Windows[/i] folder you created.
* Copy the contents, minus the registry entry.
* Paste them under [i]C:\Windows[/i], say yes when prompted to overwrite.

At this point you are officially done, all that needs to be done now is the configuration of your [b]Phys[color=green]X[/color][/b] settings by opening [i]C:\Windows\System32\PhysXCplUI.exe[/i] (or [i]C:\Windows\SysWOW64\PhysXCplUI.exe[/i] for 64 bit).

Depending on which games you play and what kind of hardware acceleration you want them to use, you can use the backup folder to restore GPU support to certain games that use a selective type of engine.
[b]For example[/b], say you think Cryostasis runs too slow off the PPU. You enter the Cryostasis system folder and find in the details of NxCooking.dll that it uses the [i]v2.7.3[/i] Engine. So restore the [i]v2.7.3[/i] folder from the [i]C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Engine\Backup[/i] folder.

Even if you do have a dedicated [color="#008000"]GPU[/color] for [b]Phys[color="#008000"]X[/color][/b], go ahead and set the Hardware Device Selection to [color="#000080"]AGEIA[/color] [b]Phys[color="#FF0000"]X[/color][/b], the [color="#008000"]GPU[/color] will still engage with [color="#008000"]GPU[/color] heavy [b]Phys[color="#00FF00"]X[/color][/b] games and the [color="#000080"]Ageia[/color] [b]Phys[color="#FF0000"]X[/color][/b] card will only engage for [color="#000080"]PPU[/color] and CPU [b]Phys[color="#FF0000"]X[/color][/b] games.

Now there are some games that can use either a [color="#008000"]GPU[/color] or [color="#000080"]PPU[/color] for [b]Phys[color="#FF0000"]X[/color][/b] ([i]Mirror's Edge, UT3, GRAW2[/i]); these games will use the [color="#008000"]GPU[/color] by default. If you want the [color="#000080"]PPU[/color] to be used for these games, open the [color="#008000"]Nvidia[/color] Control Panel and go to Manage 3D Settings. Go to the Program Settings tab and look for those specific games that can use either [b]Phys[color="#008000"]X[/color][/b] accelerator. Once you found the specific game, scroll down under feature, to "CUDA - GPUs" and disable all other [color="#008000"]GPU[/color]s besides the main Video Card.

After following these steps, you now can play every [b]Phys[color="#FF0000"]X[/color][/b] game in history, with out having the need to uninstall and reinstall [b]Phys[color="#008000"]X[/color][/b] drivers.

Certainly hope this helps for all you [color="#000080"]PPU[/color] owners out there. If something didn't work or wasn't clear, let me know; and if you prefer to see a video tutorial on how to do this, comment "I request a video tutorial" with any other questions or comments you may have. If I receive enough video requests, then I'll get to production right away.

Get [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEl6c-hHid0"]GAMING[/url] and have fun, Cheers!

If you're reading this, then you have an Ageia PhysX card and your frustrated with Nvidia for abandoning THE Relic of Dedicated Physics Processors with their latest PhysX drivers.

However, there is something you can do to fix that and restore support to that PPU, and all it requires is a little copy/paste and some registry editing. I'll be going through, step by step, what specifically you need to do to restore PPU support with the latest PhysX drivers for both 32 and 64 bit systems.

You will need 3 things to start with:

1) An old Ageia PhysX System Software (doesn't matter which one, as long as it's Ageia. You can Google it or look for it on PhysXFiles)

2) Nvidia PhysX System Software 8.09.04 (which can be picked up from the Nvidia website)

* If you're using 64bit, create another folder here and rename it SysWOW64

* Paste the files you copied into the System32 folder you created.

Note: When using 64bit be sure to differentiate the files you copied between System32 and SysWOW64, so anything from C:\Windows\System32 will go into the AGEIA Technologies\Windows\System32 folder you created, and anything from C:\Windows\SysWOW64 will go into the AGEIA Technologies\Windows\SysWOW64 folder you created.

* Now return to C:\Windows\System32.

* Enter the drivers folder.

* Sort files by name and scroll down under the names beginning with P.

* Copy a PhysX.sys related file. (physX64.sys on 64bit)

* Return to AGEIA Technologies\Windows\System32 and create a new folder.

* Rename the new folder drivers.

* Paste the file in drivers.

* Now return to C:\Windows\System32 (or C:\Windows\SysWOW64 for 64 bit)

* Find the AGEIA folder and copy it.

* Return to AGEIA Technologies\Windows and paste it in the folder you pulled it from.

At this point you are officially done, all that needs to be done now is the configuration of your PhysX settings by opening C:\Windows\System32\PhysXCplUI.exe (or C:\Windows\SysWOW64\PhysXCplUI.exe for 64 bit).

Depending on which games you play and what kind of hardware acceleration you want them to use, you can use the backup folder to restore GPU support to certain games that use a selective type of engine.

For example, say you think Cryostasis runs too slow off the PPU. You enter the Cryostasis system folder and find in the details of NxCooking.dll that it uses the v2.7.3 Engine. So restore the v2.7.3 folder from the C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Engine\Backup folder.

Even if you do have a dedicated GPU for PhysX, go ahead and set the Hardware Device Selection to AGEIA PhysX, the GPU will still engage with GPU heavy PhysX games and the Ageia PhysX card will only engage for PPU and CPU PhysX games.

Now there are some games that can use either a GPU or PPU for PhysX (Mirror's Edge, UT3, GRAW2); these games will use the GPU by default. If you want the PPU to be used for these games, open the Nvidia Control Panel and go to Manage 3D Settings. Go to the Program Settings tab and look for those specific games that can use either PhysX accelerator. Once you found the specific game, scroll down under feature, to "CUDA - GPUs" and disable all other GPUs besides the main Video Card.

After following these steps, you now can play every PhysX game in history, with out having the need to uninstall and reinstall PhysX drivers.

Certainly hope this helps for all you PPU owners out there. If something didn't work or wasn't clear, let me know; and if you prefer to see a video tutorial on how to do this, comment "I request a video tutorial" with any other questions or comments you may have. If I receive enough video requests, then I'll get to production right away.

That's a lotta work to support a card that's inferior in every single way possible to modern cards in terms of PhysX performance. I have an Asus P1 PhysX card, but I ain't about to go through all that trouble when I can just use a GTX 260 or 285 Classified I have laying around for PhysX if I am playing a game that needs it.

That's a lotta work to support a card that's inferior in every single way possible to modern cards in terms of PhysX performance. I have an Asus P1 PhysX card, but I ain't about to go through all that trouble when I can just use a GTX 260 or 285 Classified I have laying around for PhysX if I am playing a game that needs it.

The reason I asked about CF:R is that it would be the defining test. There are older games that won't run under GPGPU PhysX. CF:R in particular was hand-optimized to the ATHENA as a showcase piece when AGEIA began a more serious publicity campaign towards PhysX support right before nVidia bought them out.

While I agree that the efficacy of this method is questionable for games like the G.R.A.W. series and UT3, which only had 1-3 add-on levels to demonstrate PhysX capabilities rather than across-the-board support, I still keep a copy of the CF:R installer. I always wonder how that game itself would perform on a more modern hardware platform as it ran quite well on the old Q6600 w/GTS 8800 setup.

I've known about transferring the engines since about the time I "duked it out" with a poster named "PhysXGOD" on the eVGA Forums almost three years ago, and I haven't even thought about trying this since Win7's release, much less under Vista x64.

But I also have to agree that with games starting from Mirror's Edge there's no way in Hell I'd rather drop back down to GT 9600-level PhysX support. And I do still have my old BFG Tech PCI version of the ATHENA. After the move to Sandy Bridge, there's a PCI slot available on this Lynnfield MOBO.

The reason I asked about CF:R is that it would be the defining test. There are older games that won't run under GPGPU PhysX. CF:R in particular was hand-optimized to the ATHENA as a showcase piece when AGEIA began a more serious publicity campaign towards PhysX support right before nVidia bought them out.

While I agree that the efficacy of this method is questionable for games like the G.R.A.W. series and UT3, which only had 1-3 add-on levels to demonstrate PhysX capabilities rather than across-the-board support, I still keep a copy of the CF:R installer. I always wonder how that game itself would perform on a more modern hardware platform as it ran quite well on the old Q6600 w/GTS 8800 setup.

I've known about transferring the engines since about the time I "duked it out" with a poster named "PhysXGOD" on the eVGA Forums almost three years ago, and I haven't even thought about trying this since Win7's release, much less under Vista x64.

But I also have to agree that with games starting from Mirror's Edge there's no way in Hell I'd rather drop back down to GT 9600-level PhysX support. And I do still have my old BFG Tech PCI version of the ATHENA. After the move to Sandy Bridge, there's a PCI slot available on this Lynnfield MOBO.

Indeed, Cellfactor: Combat Training demo and Cellfactor Revolution both work flawlessly with my [color="#000080"]PPU[/color] on Windows 7 64 bit. Just needed to do a little configuration; whoever said Windows 7 does not support the [color="#000080"]Ageia[/color] [b]Phys[color="#FF0000"]X[/color][/b] card is downright lying as my PC is living proof that it can.

Indeed, Cellfactor: Combat Training demo and Cellfactor Revolution both work flawlessly with my PPU on Windows 7 64 bit. Just needed to do a little configuration; whoever said Windows 7 does not support the Ageia PhysX card is downright lying as my PC is living proof that it can.

[quote name='Goddess84' date='17 January 2011 - 02:00 AM' timestamp='1295254803' post='1178283']
That's a lotta work to support a card that's inferior in every single way possible to modern cards[/quote]

Well even I was surprised how long I made the list to be, but I put a every detail I could into it so hopefully nobody would get lost.

It's really not a lot of tedious work, it's simply copying and saving the [b]Phys[color="#008000"]X[/color][/b] engine files and [b]Phys[color="#008000"]X[/color][/b] control panel (with registry settings) from a previous [b]Phys[color="#008000"]X[/color][/b] driver supporting the [color="#000080"]PPU[/color], installing the latest one then copying all that old stuff back into place with a few things from the new drivers in the mix.

And sure the [color="#000080"]PPU[/color] may be inferior when compared to the processing power in modern [color="#008000"]GPU[/color]s, I even covered the subject in an informative video I made, [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNQUJJVurO8"]"PhysX Cards (PPUs), Are they Still Worth it?[/url]."

But you can't deny the [color="#000080"]Ageia[/color] [b]Phys[color="#FF0000"]X[/color][/b] cards significance in shaping modern games today; if someone mentions [b]Phys[color="#008000"]X[/color][/b] game, they may remember the old [color="#000080"]Ageia[/color] Cards back in the day.

Not to mention that now I can play [i]Cellfactor[/i] in full [b]Phys[color="#FF0000"]X[/color][/b] glory and [i]Mafia II[/i] without needing to uninstall/reinstall drivers, ha ha!

That's a lotta work to support a card that's inferior in every single way possible to modern cards

Well even I was surprised how long I made the list to be, but I put a every detail I could into it so hopefully nobody would get lost.

It's really not a lot of tedious work, it's simply copying and saving the PhysX engine files and PhysX control panel (with registry settings) from a previous PhysX driver supporting the PPU, installing the latest one then copying all that old stuff back into place with a few things from the new drivers in the mix.

How can you make PPU work in Mafia 2 with an ATI card? I can run Batman Arkham Asylum on Win7 x64, but Mafia 2 doesn`t want to work. Newest Physx drivers, I did everything what was written above (copying, registry editing). Thanks.

How can you make PPU work in Mafia 2 with an ATI card? I can run Batman Arkham Asylum on Win7 x64, but Mafia 2 doesn`t want to work. Newest Physx drivers, I did everything what was written above (copying, registry editing). Thanks.

[quote name='pramerb' date='24 January 2011 - 10:12 AM' timestamp='1295889130' post='1182874']
How can you make PPU work in Mafia 2 with an ATI card?
[/quote]

[i]Mafia 2[/i] will not work with the [color="#000080"]PPU[/color] as it uses the [i]2.8.3[/i] [b]Phys[color="#006400"]X[/color][/b] engine which does not support the [color="#000080"]PPU[/color] altogether. This also means games like [i]Metro 2033[/i], [i]Transformers: War for Cybertron[/i], and [i]Singularity[/i] won't be accelerated by the [color="#000080"]PPU[/color] either.

The reason [i]Batman: Arkham Asylum[/i] works with the [color="#000080"]PPU[/color] is that it uses the [i]2.8.1[/i] [b]Phys[color="#006400"]X[/color][/b] engine, which does support [color="#000080"]PPU[/color] acceleration.

Mafia 2 will not work with the PPU as it uses the 2.8.3PhysX engine which does not support the PPU altogether. This also means games like Metro 2033, Transformers: War for Cybertron, and Singularity won't be accelerated by the PPU either.

The reason Batman: Arkham Asylum works with the PPU is that it uses the 2.8.1PhysX engine, which does support PPU acceleration.

Again, as I mentioned in my previous post, Mafia II uses the [i]2.8.3[/i] engine, which was created after Nvidia dropped PPU support, so it doesn't support the [color="#000080"]PPU[/color] altogether. However, any older [b]Phys[color="#FF0000"]X[/color][/b] engine ([i]2.8.1[/i] or earlier) will use the [color="#000080"]PPU[/color].

Again, as I mentioned in my previous post, Mafia II uses the 2.8.3 engine, which was created after Nvidia dropped PPU support, so it doesn't support the PPU altogether. However, any older PhysX engine (2.8.1 or earlier) will use the PPU.

Just Revised and shortened this tutorial; details are still above but in a nutshell...

Copy all [b]Phys[color="Red"]X[/color][/b] related files from older drivers and stick them in [i]C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Engine[/i], except for the stuff you found in [i]C:\Windows[/i], that stuff goes back to the [i]windows[/i] folder.

No need to restore the [i]Ageia Technologies[/i] folder or do any registry editing.

Just Revised and shortened this tutorial; details are still above but in a nutshell...

Copy all PhysX related files from older drivers and stick them in C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Engine, except for the stuff you found in C:\Windows, that stuff goes back to the windows folder.

No need to restore the Ageia Technologies folder or do any registry editing.